2. Promise

2

PROMISE

A s Ariana and I arrive in the ice citadel of Novakitsk, an entourage makes its way towards us. Master Vasily Ilyov must have alerted his ambassadors of our arrival before he disappeared; dressed in draping, brocaded silks like winter kimonos with sleek fur collars, the three Dark Winter Fae in our welcome party look almost like Vampires with their tall height and excessively pale coloring.

Luminous beneath the moon, the two men and one woman wear their hair in ornate hairstyles, full of braids, cloisonné chopsticks with colorful tassels, and gleaming glass beads reminiscent of ancient Mongolia. Their fingers are tattooed with silver-blue Fae script that glows beneath the moon; setting their hands together, they bow before us.

Then bow just to Curio—their Dark Winter Fae prince returned home.

“Clariss! How I’ve missed you.”

Curio surges forward with a laugh that fills the night with sudden joy. His peppermint winds whirl around him as he embraces the woman in the lead of our welcome party. He smiles, his buoyant, wintery glee infectious as she gives an answering laugh, hugging him in return .

As they exchange cheek kisses, a wind whirls with the brisk, cold scent of elderflower. It comes from the woman, complementing Curio’s striking peppermint magic on my tongue. As the two embrace, I realize how similar they look—and know the leader of our welcome party is Curio’s sister, as he grasps her hand and leads her to us.

Grinning like a brigand.

“My friends. I would like you to meet my elder sister, Clariss Silverfrost. Clariss, these are my dear friends from Florence, Ariana Summers and Lucca Bellari. And of course, you know the Lady Eiseth Pendragon of Britain.”

“Lady Eiseth. Good to see you again.” Curio’s sister Clariss steps forward with regal delight now, clasping hands with Eiseth and kissing cheeks as if they are old friends.

Clariss’ blue-white gaze is all for me now, however. As she eyes me, brisk, I know she’s realized who I am; her magic whirls up, ferocious, as truly enormous auric wings flare from her spine. She steps back now, raising her hands to throw up a massive shield wall of blue and white rainbow-dark magic behind her.

Barring our way into the city.

“The Prince of the Summer Fae goes no further.” A vicious chill takes her voice as she stares at me, daggers like icicles seething from her power. Her pale blue eyes flash as she glances at Curio. “You will incur father’s wrath, brother, for bringing our enemy here.”

“Patience, Clariss.” Curio chuckles as he waves nonchalantly at me. “Dig a little deeper into his magic, sister. For Prince Lucca Bellari is Dark Fae, like you and I, no longer just Summer Fae, as his people suppose. He is Cuorante —his Night magic is subtle, but it’s there. Besides, father already met us at the gate and approved of us entering the city. With Lucca.”

With a chill frown towards me, Curio’s sister at last lowers her arms. Her barrier remains, however, as she moves towards me and raises a hand; her cold magic makes me pull back instinctively as curls of vapor like dry ice waft from her fingertips.

Curio motions me to stay put for his sister’s evaluation. Clearly, though their father already approved of me coming into the city, Clariss Silverfrost’s word goes here, now that I’m inside.

She sets her hand to my heart and her touch pains me, so cold it burns. It makes me inhale; whorls of ice dance across my diamond-white coat as my entire body feels frozen to my marrow all over again. Her winter ice patterns up my collar; I feel it burn my neck as my inner fire flares now, to beat her deep chill with my Summer Fae heat.

Her touch raises a dark rage inside me, then. Something goes black within me as I dive into an utterly void place Quinn, Ariana, and I all share. Something pulses from my heart, like a lance of dark starlight.

Clariss pulls her hand back—her eyes widening as she glances up into my eyes.

“See everything you hoped to?” I’m glib, but even I know my tone is far from friendly as I face a mortal enemy. Because the Summer and Winter Fae have been at odds for eons—the strongest two Fae Courts in the world, diametric opposites in our power.

“You hide the darkness inside your Light well, Summer Fae Prince.” Clariss gives me an elegant nod now, though it’s still tense.

“I have to.” I stare her down, not backing down from her evaluation of me. “My father can never know what I am.”

“And we will never tell him.” She gives me a serious nod now, acknowledging that my secret as a Dark Fae is safe here, among others who are like me.

It seems my evaluation is over as Clariss turns to Ariana next. She gives Ariana a thoughtful gaze as I feel Clariss read Ariana with her power like she just read me. Though her formidable magic seethes through Ariana, my lover stands firm under that onslaught. Something in her is better able to withstand Clariss’ power as Curio’s sister steps close now .

She inhales near Ariana’s cheek, her cold breath sighing out in the night.

“Well. You have power, Animante .” Light beams from Clariss’ eyes now as she pulls back, smiling bemusedly. “I look forward to seeing more of it, as my father works with you during your stay. For the third of your bound trio has descended into darkness—which I assume is why you are here. Where is he, your Mentale ?”

“In here.” Ariana pulls out Quinn’s Florentine Box from her gown again. As Quinn roils inside, seething with red-eyed hatred, Curio’s sibling and the others of her welcome party flinch. Though Clariss holds her ground, the other two step a safe distance away now as they watch the furious Revenant.

“ That is going to break soon. And the demon will be freed.” Clariss’ pale eyes snap to Ariana, then me, as if accusing us of bringing a true hellspawn here.

“Don’t we know it,” I say, wry, as Ariana stashes the cube away again.

“We’re hoping to put him in a safe place before that happens.” Ariana is more magnanimous as she beseeches Curio’s sister for help. “Curio said your father has such a place here in the citadel. Which is why we’ve come. Part of it, at least.”

“Indeed.” Clariss’ gaze is softer now as she evaluates Ariana with her pale blue eyes. With a gentler smile, she steps to Ariana, linking arms. “Come. I will show you to a place where you can put your beloved, monstrous though he is at the moment. For I sense true love between you—all of you . It is a beautiful thing, when a Dark Fae’s Triad is formed of love, rather than necessity. I sense you have no malicious intent among us; thus, you are our guests. We will do everything in our power to help you while you are here. And repair your broken hearts… if such a thing can be done.”

From such a tense welcome, our arrival in Novakitsk becomes only kindness as Clariss leads Ariana into the citadel. Though she didn’t exactly welcome me, I step forward, walking beside Ariana as I keep pace. Eiseth follows with Curio, who strikes up casual conversation with the other members of the welcome party.

Clariss escorts us in with a beaming smile now, her former tension gone as if things have been sorted to her satisfaction. As if a crisp winter wind just blew her concerns away, she beams with light now, and a buoyant radiance. She doesn’t hold any tension as we walk through the elegant city of ice, light, and artistry. It’s impressive how clear her aura has become, when Summer Fae seethe and churn about even the smallest slights for ages. It strikes me that most of those around us are Dark Winter Fae, like her.

The rest Dark Fae from many Fae Lineages, I note as we walk.

“So… is everyone here Dark Fae?” I have to ask as we head through a beautiful courtyard of ice colonnades. A tremendous fountain featuring a tall Dark Winter Fae maiden dancing with a bear, a stag, and a fox splashes in the center of the courtyard. Arctic foxes with a bunch of kits play around the fountain’s base, darting through a bramble of moon-white roses that grow all around.

“Not everyone, but most are,” Clariss answers with peace now as she glances at me. “Poor thing, growing up under your father King Bellari’s pogroms and thinking you were all alone with your mysterious, not-quite-Summer Fae power. Have you ever met any other Courante Dark Fae?”

“Not until recently. None that I knew were Dark Fae, at least,” I say, not knowing how to answer that.

“No wonder you’re intrigued, coming here. I forget there are still those of us out there in the world, barely awake to their powers and not knowing what they are.” She shoots a glance at me again as she and Ariana walk with arms linked, as if intrigued by my unique situation as the son of the one person who has persecuted Dark Fae the worst in the modern age.

“There are more of us still out there? Unknown, and unaware of what they are?” Ariana asks as our party walks beneath a colonnade of ice-pinnacles. Each has a collection of luminous night-moths congregating at its peak, which drink a clear nectar that drips from a vine crawling up into the pinnacles.

“A few.” Clariss nods, though again, she glances at me. “Most are like your trio’s Cuorante or Mentale —made Dark Fae by an exceedingly strong Vampire, rather than born one of us. They walk the world without a clue why their power is no longer quite what it once was. Most Dark Fae’s power chooses a side—Light or Night—and thus, they continue to believe they are either Vampire or a regular Fae. You might think being Animante is the most common type of Dark Fae, but it is quite rare; very few Dark Fae walk the balance of the two powers. Or want to, for it is a very hard road to travel. Ah, here we are.”

As Clariss leads us inside a building now, I find we’ve entered a massive atrium of ice. Like an observatory for the midnight sky, the towering indoor atrium has chaises for lounging and curved planters all along its clear, circular dome. A riot of vines, flowering plants, and trees grows around the space. A burbling water fountain flows around the perimeter, watering the plants.

I feel serene here; as Clariss waves a hand at the vaulted ice doors, they whisper shut behind us. Solemnity devours this space as I heave a deep sigh, feeling the most amazing serenity breathe through me now.

It’s like I’ve entered some kind of holy space; like a chapel, or a cathedral of ice as Ariana and I share a brief smile for the first time in what feels like eons. As Clariss waves a hand, some kind of invisible power barrier shimmers into the air throughout the dome. Though beautiful, it looks like the same sort of barrier that kept us out of the fortress earlier.

And vaporized snow from Curio’s hand.

“There,” she says as it finishes. She flicks her fingers, manifesting a small archway of ice in the barrier, then gestures to Ariana. “Step forward, Animante , and place your Master’s prison within the chapel. Return, and I will break the seals upon his box. And close the barrier so he cannot escape.”

Understanding, Ariana nods. I feel something about this holy space do our hearts good as she moves forward through the delicate ice-arch now and places Quinn’s Florentine Box on the glassy floor. Something about this space feels right as Ariana returns. Clariss dissolves her arch and her power barrier fills in, though she stops it with a pin-prick of space left. Focusing her gaze on Quinn’s box, she inhales.

Then flicks her fingers at it, making the box explode.

As the Florentine Box shatters, Quinn’s Revenant pours out. As he surges forth in a tirade of seething Night, Clariss quickly seals up her barrier. Quinn’s vast Revenant goes roaring into the highest vaults of the midnight dome, shrieking like chandeliers shattering as it whirls in a furious, malevolent wind. Clariss motions us all back; though her barrier of power is solid, Quinn rages as he tears around the space, looking for a way out. But though his red eyes burn, being trapped inside the ice cathedral doesn’t seem to harm him.

At last, he settles.

Staring at us with his black vortex churning in a slow, venomous rage.

“He will be safe here,” Clariss says, as we all stare at the evil thing that is Quinn. Wrath burns in its red eyes, and I feel nothing but darkness from it. Though Quinn asked us to help him through this terrible demon of Night earlier, I feel nothing of him in it now. My heart aches as I understand this vile creature feels nothing for us; it’s just biding its time until it can escape.

Ariana’s heart aches for Quinn just as much as mine, now that we are face-to-face with his current horror. Moving to her, I cuddle her under my arm as she wraps her arms around my waist.

I cinch her in, kissing her temple as she gives a terrible sigh beside me.

“For how long will he be safe in this place?” I ask as I glance at Clariss.

“For as long as need be.” Clariss turns to face Ariana and me. As Curio and Lady Eiseth come into our group also, Clariss gestures at the beautiful cage her barrier has formed inside the ice chapel. “This is a sacred space. The Moon Dome is one of our most hallowed places in the Citadel and contains much good energy. Your bound Mentale will be safe here until my father can find a solution for him. I will have people monitor this space night and day for any change in the barrier; if there is, I shall repair it at once. But you may come visit and see him anytime. Indeed, it would be good for you to come here whenever you can, and be with him, talk with him. The difficulty now will be returning his humanity, rather than containing him. Only you two,” she looks pointedly at me and Ariana, “can help him with that.”

“Thank you, Clariss.” Curio steps forward, embracing his sister and kissing her cheeks, then clasping her hands. “You do not know what this means to us.”

“To all of us,” Lady Eiseth says as she reaches out, clasping Clariss’ hand with a kind of sisterly love beaming in her mist-grey eyes.

“He is beloved to you all.” Clariss gives a sad smile now as she gazes around our group. “Very well. I will do everything I can for him and urge father to do the same. He is often bitter in his ways; true love has graced him only once in his life, and now that love is gone. Do not be surprised if he is jealous of what you share. Curio and I shall encourage him, though. Won’t we, brother?”

As Clariss beams at Curio, I see the doting older sister in her manner, and the adoring younger brother in his. As he tucks her beneath his arm, he kisses her cheek, then glances around all of us, taking the lead now that we are welcome in his home.

“Come, friends. Clariss and I will show you to quarters fit for the royalty you are,” Curio says as he beams. “Though things are dire right now, I have faith we will bring our beloved Quinn back. For he is nothing if not stubborn; somewhere, deep down, he is fighting to return to us. I know it, in my heart of hearts.”

“We’ll get him back.” Eiseth is firm as she glances between Curio, Ariana, and me. “I will do everything I can to help, including giving all the aid my Dark Haven can provide in Florence’s time of need. I will rouse my troops and return to Devina, for I know which of Quinn’s allies can be trusted and which cannot. You three stay here; do everything you can for Quinn. Get him back. And we will smash our enemies upon the Vampire Council or otherwise. And bring all of Vampire and Fae-kind into the Light at last.”

“Thank you, Eiseth,” Ariana says as she reaches out, taking Eiseth’s hand and squeezing it. “Quinn needs his allies right now, in addition to our love, to bring him home.”

“You are the best of the Fae, Eiseth,” I say now, Eiseth’s words so passionate that my heart swells.

“Don’t tell anyone that.” She smiles at me, as her pearl-grey eyes glint now. “To the world, I am Vampire, and Vampire I will remain… until it is time for the Dark Fae to rise. And achieve our equality, together.”

The Lady Eiseth gives us all a deep nod now, turning and taking her formidable warrior’s presence out of the ice hall. It strikes me then, that we have a vast ally on our side. I wonder about who she really is, this fierce warrioress from Britannia who has so many ties to places and people of legend. But then Curio clears his throat, beckoning for us to leave the hall.

“Come. Let us get you all settled in. And we shall see what tomorrow brings.”

As Curio leads the way out of the ice chapel, we follow. But I pause as I see Quinn’s Revenant swirl from the corner of my eye. Turning back, I face him, watching his red eyes glow through the barrier. He’s close, right in front of me, though none of his swirling, black tentacles of Night touch the barrier.

“We will save you, I promise,” I say to him now as we watch each other in the night. “We will find a way to bring you back from this last edge of darkness. With everything we have, we will.”

I see no flickers of fire now in Quinn’s inky darkness, or recognition that I’ve spoken. As his red, malicious eyes stare at me, I feel only a sensation of hunger on the other side of our bond. The beast has taken Quinn, but I know Lady Eiseth and Curio are right; we will do whatever it takes to bring him back. As Ariana returns to me, taking me by the hand, I send my promise to Quinn via the depths of my heart, hoping it will reach him.

I think I see a flash of onyx in those eyes, just for a moment.

But then the moment is gone, and Ariana is leading me away.

So we can all finally rest.